It is not every day that 290,000 people gather on the National Mall in Washington, DC, in the shadow of the US Capitol and the Washington Monument, and sing “Am Yisrael Chai.”
In fact, it’s never happened.
While there have been large Jewish demonstrations in Washington before – 250,000 protesting on behalf of Soviet Jewry in 1987, and 100,000 rallying for Israel at the height of the Second Intifada in 2002 – there has never been anything as large as this.
Even more impressive, this huge rally was organized in less than two weeks. It was as timely as it was significant.
That so many people came from all over America at such short notice attests to a surging sense of Jewish peoplehood and rekindled support for Israel that has emerged from the October 7 massacre, as well as a feeling of aloneness.
This was a rally in support of Israel, no apologies.
American Jewry has watched with mouths agape as Hamas’s savage rampage on October 7 unleashed some shocking expressions of sympathy in the US, not for the victims and the hostages, nor for the country whose security was ravaged, but for the perpetrators.
American Jews watched in disbelief as the streets of their cities echoed with the genocidal chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as their children at some of the US’s top universities were threatened, as some of their allies left them standing alone.
So they demonstrated together.
But make no mistake: Unlike Sunday’s demonstration in Paris that brought out 105,000 people and was not billed as a demonstration for Israel, but as a demonstration against antisemitism, something much more politically correct, the protest in Washington was an unabashed rally in support of Israel.
That is how it was billed, that is how it was organized. Concerns about antisemitism were a big part of the protest, as were calls to bring home the kidnapped hostages, but the organizers did not try to hide the purpose of the rally. This rally was a full-throated demonstration in support of Israel. No ifs, no buts, no apologies.
Rally shows: pro-Israel community is a force to be reckoned with
This rally was significant for numerous reasons.
First, it was important because it comes in the wake of numerous anti-Israel, often downright pro-Hamas protests that have taken place in US cities from Portland, Oregon to Boston. Those loud protests, accompanied at times by antisemitic banners, are often highlighted in the media, creating a perception of public opinion turning against Israel – the goal that the organizers of these protests are after.
Tuesday’s rally signaled the opposite. It let the US know that even if the pro-Israel community has not held as many protests as Israel’s detractors, it remains a force to be reckoned with.
That message is as important for a congressman to hear in Missouri as it is for the average watcher of the nightly news in North Carolina. It is crucial for the US public and for its elected officials to understand that a large part of the US population is passionately supportive of Israel.
It is also a timely message to send since fringe anti-Zionist Jewish groups draw an inordinate amount of attention and create a perception that even American Jews don’t support Israel anymore. A nearly 300,000-person pro-Israel rally tells a much different tale.
Secondly, this rally was a strong statement by the US Jewish community that it will not be intimidated. Part of the purpose of the anti-Israel protests, part of the reason for the surge in antisemitism, is a desire to scare US Jews into silence.
When pro-Israel rallies are met by hateful and sometimes violent counter-demonstrators, when pro-Israel students on campus are harassed, the hope by those counter-demonstrating and harassing is to stifle the pro-Israel voices.
This rally sent a strong message that the Jews will not be cowed. As one sign at the rally, quoting Menachem Begin, read, “I am not a Jew with trembling knees.”
And, finally, the rally was significant and moving because of the message it sent Israelis: that they are not alone, that they can count on the support of their brethren overseas, and that Jews are bound together by mystic strands of peoplehood that are strengthened and palpable during times of crisis.